The technological advancements in my time as a photographer have been huge. Can you believe that when I first started cameras were still 100% mechanical? Electronics were starting to show up in cameras when I was learning but of course, we were still very much restricted by the capabilities of film. This is how shooting wedding ceremonies used to be.
Shoot inside at 3200> walk backward down the aisle, shooting all remaining frames on a roll>rapidly change the film to 200 iso for the couple exiting into full sun.
Yes, it was intense!
Fast forward to now and our cameras can happily cope with shooting in dimly lit venues. It’s meant that we can shoot wedding ceremonies absolutely anywhere without having to add in flash.
Wiltons Music Hall is very atmospheric but also very dimly lit. At this recent wedding there, Ed Godden has used that to his advantage to create atmosphere in this frame. The couple is illuminated perfectly by the theatre lights and the rest of the scene has enough available light to bring all the other elements into view. The rainbow of flowers is a pretty foreground and the fairy lights add a whimsical touch to the top half of the frame. It looks like a very magical ceremony.
It’s a great reminder that as wedding photographers we should invest as much as we can into our lenses. It is always worth paying more to be able to get more light into your image.
Sony a7iii | Sony 35mm 1.4 GM | f/1.4 | 1/125| ISO 800
Own Preset
What Ed Said…
“I took this shot during Katie and Geoffs wedding ceremony at the stunning Wiltons Music Hall in London. I never use flash for ceremonies, even in the darkest of venues I trust my Sony cameras to get the job done. That, and my favourite 1.4 lens, the 35mm Sony GM. For the ceremony I mainly stayed in the position that this shot was taken in, but also shot a few from the side. I like symmetry and simplicity in my photos, so decided to concentrate mainly on this viewpoint, and waited patiently for eye contact between the bride and groom. Once I got this frame in the bag I then pegged it upstairs to get some shots from the balcony looking down.”